Beautiful Babe

Tara bats her eyes at me and gives her best heart breaking smile.  She had my heart months ago :)

Hark!

Hark!  There's a backhoe outside my window!  At my parents' cabin a crew rebuilds a retaining wall in between us and the neighbours.  Quite the funny sight for a sunday breakfast.

Playground Creepers

Nigel and I take Szikra to a playground in Whistler village so she can meet some kids.  It felt pretty funny sitting there trying to lure kids over to pet the dog - "Hey, wanna pet my dog? She's really friendly, you can pet her if you like.  She likes you..."

All in the name of socialization!  I swear we're not creeps...

The Daily Grind

Luc shows me his battle wounds from work.  Apparently painful, but difficult to discern from my vantage point...  ;)  Building a fence in a prickle bush is no fun!

Sit

Atten-tion!  Szikra gives me her best sit n' stay.  It was long enough that I could get this photo - we're getting there!

Baby Bath

The towel off after Szikra stoically endures her first bath/water experience.  She's been out in the rain before, but had never spent any time in a tub or pool.  It was quite funny watching her obvious disgust at initially being  in water halfway up her legs.  Overall it went pretty well!

Brunch Run

Nat and Dave make the run over to my house for brunch this morning.  How cute with the matching neon!  Apparently Florida outlets are where you can equip yourself with this gear on the cheap.

I was just astonished they ran home after the feast.

Nut Cup

Tanya and I cruise 4th Avenue for kicks and stumble across a 'nut cup' in a kitchen store.  Um??!  As we like to say: "insert Steve comment here!"  I can't say I knew they made those...  For all those who are wondering; it's bigger than an 'egg cup'.

Visitors

Wilma sits pretty for dinner while Tanya tries to vaporize the bugs from her system.  Lookin' good ladies!

Purse Puppy

Sleeping Beauty gets to ride around in my courier bag while Tanya, Luc and I are out and about for morning coffee because she doesn't have all her shots yet.  This way she gets to see the world and get used to it, minus the germs.  And she gets to be the princess I'm sure she thinks she is ;)  I won't be able to lug this heifer around for long though, she's 14 pounds at 8.5 weeks old!

Thunder

Szikra shows me her talent of dropping everything and thundering over to my lap to crash into me when I call her :)  I like where this is going!

For perspective, the coffee table leg is just over a foot high.

P-Day

P-Day is here, I get to take home my new vizsla puppy, 'Szikra' who I've been waiting for since February.  Her name is Hungarian to match her heritage, and translates to 'spark' (like a spark or scintilla from a fire).  It's fitting for her colour which is russet gold, but also because she has a little white blaze on her chest.  She also has a grandpa named Fire and a father who's official name is Piroska's Sunfire Spark (which I didn't know when I named her).

I am smitten with her already because she's such a doll.  Her butt (as opposed to tail) never stops wagging. She's pointed a bird already, thunders over when you call her, brings her toys back to you when you throw them and generally is quite good for a puppy of 8 weeks. She also happens to be Cato's grand-niece, which is lovely :)

Szikra rides out her first car/kennel experience like a pro.  Minor squawking for a girl who had never been shut in a kennel before, and total silence as we smuggle her across the mason-dixon line.  Let's hope the rest of puppyhood is this smooth!

Commencing Phase 3 of life: dogless for Phase 1, my man Cato for Phase 2, and now Szikra for Phase 3.
To the next 15 years of my life :)

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Prepare for many puppy related posts from here on! I'll try not to make it ALL about her - I do have other things going on after all ;)

Back Porch Photosynthesizer

Julia's Japanese maple that she won has been living on my back porch.  In the short span of time it's been there it has exploded with leaves.  Maybe the warm weather really IS coming!

UPDATE: with Szikra's new tenancy in the house the maple has been demoted to the yard.  She enjoyed eating the dirt far too much.

Don't Put Your Face in the Toilet

I was pleased to see that the new Vancouver Convention Centre downtown uses recycled water in their toilets, but a little miffed that it was necessary to warn patrons against drinking the water from the toilet.  It's funny because you never see that warning on regular toilets with non-recycled water... I was, however, in the bar section in the new Mahoneys and who knows what people get thinking after a few pints!  "Forget the sink water, I'm going for the recycled stuff in the john!"

I think they should upgrade the decal to better represent the main message of not putting your face in the toilet.

Big Timber Luggin' Timber

Big Timber (a.k.a Old Woody) shows his versatility as a work-mobile.  Big Timber luggin' Timber!  Luc doesn't hesitate to rattle off the other virtues of this prized gem at any subtle prompt ;)

You can sleep in the back!  Power seats!  Sweet tape collection!  Coasts like a dream!

Welcome to the Jungle

In-house modifications preceding puppy's arrival on Friday: move all plants out of chewing height.

The Pudds

My first ever viewing of proper Yorkshire puddings in progress.  So intriguing!  Served atop Nigel's self-hunted, homemade moose stew of course :)

ACTION!

Mr. Black shows me what life is all about :)  Nothing else to say!

Thumbs Up!

Two faces of several I haven't seen lately.  Andrea and Luc join myself, Nat, Dave and some of Dave's friends at the King's Head for a Friday night social.  Thumbs up!

The NEW Take-out

BYO-container to your fave sushi joint for take-out to avoid styrofoam guilt.  Sweet action!

Sit, Hummingbird. Sit.

I finally sit down after a whole day of go-go-go.  Aaaaahhhh.

By the By

Kitsilano-Point Grey:  Ready, set, vote (again).  A prompt to do some late night reading on candidates.

P-p-p-p-purple Pansies

A close up on some downtown foliage surviving a colder-than-average-spring.

The Boy

Another Sunday visit to see the vizsla puppies :)  Showcased here is the most bruiser of the boys, and the litter, "Mr. Blue".  A sweet, sweet boy.  He's gonna be somebody's "it dog" for sure.

Fake Mother's Day Downpour

I took my mom out for a preemptive Mother's Day lunch today on Commercial Drive.  After lunch we cruised the strip, but not for long - DOWNPOUR!  An unbelievable amount of water in a minute amount of time.  Nothing to do but wait under awnings and skip back to the car when it slowed.

Once back on the other side of town... The streets showed no sign of rain!

Eva

I saw her on the way to work this morning.  Eva Dien Brine Markvoort.

She is the most accomplished person of my generation that I know.  She was a family friend who lost her fight with cystic fibrosis just over a year ago, at the tender age of 26.  That's the same age as me.

Her life's work continues through the legacy of initiatives she started and inspired.  It becomes just how apparent how deep her legacy runs when I realize how many people I know, that knew her, all from different parts of my life.  She was more than the sixth degree of separation.  She was everywhere burning red and thundering through life and still is.

She is now the face of BC Transplant's new campaign for organ donation.

You also may recognize her as the star of the documentary '65 red roses' (http://www.65redroses.com/), a documentary about her life as she waited for, and received a double lung transplant.  I highly recommend watching it.  It's not an easy film to watch, but everyone should see it.

You can check out her personal online work here: http://65redroses.livejournal.com/, which is being continued by family, friends, and supporters and is unbelievably successful.  Contribute to the legacy and make sure you are registered as an organ donor and a blood donor.

I have seen her on public transit and in online ads a lot lately.  You're probably looking at Eva too, you just don't know it.  <3

Rendezvous

Game night at Dan's, and a rendezvous of old colleagues from MEC.  Joel, Katie and Elaine show me how stoked they are!

Tulip

Some are pointy and some are frilly.  Nice display outside RVYC on an evening walk.

Sicker Than a Half-dead Leopard

Okay, maybe not that sick.  But sick enough to spend the day under this blanket on the couch wishing I wasn't.

The Two Pears

Artwork adorning our house above our fireplace.  "The Two Pears" by Mama Turcotte.  I'm not sure the painting has a name in particular (my mom never said) but it seems to have acquired that one after living above the fireplace...  It was also the inspiration for the name of our internet connection.

Cycling and Cappuccinos

When the sun comes out on a sunny Sunday, Vancouver gets on their road bikes and rides around town amidst cappuccino breaks.  We do the same, minus the cappuccino part.  These parked two-wheelers are stationed up top of wreck beach, and there are a lot of them on this particular Sunday.